Establishing the Customer Journey through Toll Free Numbers

Initially, the process of acquiring a toll free number might seem like a lengthy or expensive process. However, acquiring a toll free number can be completed in four easy steps. Once you’ve taken the steps in the toll free journey, you are also simultaneously securing the steps in the customer journey.

The customer journey relates to your target audience’s buying process. What are the crucial steps a customer takes before he or she makes a purchase decision? Regardless of business size or industry, the customer journey and buying process is all the same:

How does the customer journey tie into the toll free journey?

1.    Look up a Toll Free Number. You can’t take the first steps in any journey without first tying your sneakers or putting gas in the car. The same is true for a toll free number. Small businesses acquiring a toll free number need to first brainstorm toll free number variations, spellings, and ideas and how those ideas play into their small business or brand and how they can make toll free numbers work for them.

Customers who are looking for a small business, whether it’s a florist, pizza place, roofing contractor, or a car mechanic, are first going to recall toll free numbers or ads they’ve seen or heard. Become part of the customer journey and ensure that your toll free number is one of the first numbers they recall.

2.    Choose Your Favorite Number. Once small businesses have decided on their brand and name, and have brainstormed a few great ideas for toll free numbers, it is now time to select your first choice. Small businesses can easily look up and secure their toll free numbers online.

The next step in the customer journey is easy. Once customers have recalled your small business number, all they have to do is call it and get in touch with you to inquire about your products or services or place an order. This stage in the customer journey is the step customers take to find out what you’re all about, and if you really plan to deliver what you promise them.

3.    Select Your Coverage. As a business, once you’ve decided and acquired your desired toll free number, the next step is to select your coverage. Where do you plan on operating? Do you operate within a local area or nationwide? The flexibility of premium toll free services allows businesses to only select and pay for the areas in which they operate.

By this point, customers have remembered your number, called your number and spoke to you or a staff member, and they are ready to make a purchase decision. Having a toll free number for them to easily recall not only made it easy for them to call you, but it also established a level of credibility in their minds. It shows that your business takes business and the needs of customers seriously.

4.    Congratulations! Your Toll Free Number is Now in Service. The hard work is over. You now have a toll free number. You’ve not only just boosted your reputation and credibility, you’ve also secured the steps for your customers in their journey.

Even as customers have reached out to you and made a purchase decision, business teaches us that the sale doesn’t end here. The implementation process is just as important as closing the deal. As a small business, you need to follow through and ensure that your customer receives their product or service and you meet their expectations and deliver on what your small business promises.

Finally, before your customers embark on their journeys, you first need to define and learn who your customers are. What do they look like? What is their buyer persona? Small businesses armed with this information will have an easier time generating a loyal audience and really reaching their customers. Only then can you clearly define your small business toll free number…and begin the journey.

© Maksym Yemelyanov